Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what number of people have been arrested as a result of mistaken identity due to Live Facial Recognition in the last year.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office is not aware of anyone being arrested as a result of mistaken identity, due to live facial recognition in the last year. Forces also publish information about their deployments on their website. More details on LFR deployments can be found in the Met Police Force report Live Facial Recognition Annual Report September 2025.
Police use of live facial recognition is subject to safeguards that are designed to minimise the risk of misidentifications. These are set out in the Authorised Professional Practice guidance by the College of Policing found here: Live facial recognition | College of Policing]. They must also comply with data protection, equality, and human rights laws and are subject to the Information Commissioner’s and Equality and Human Rights Commission’s oversight.
Following a possible live facial recognition alert, it is always a police officer on the ground who will decide what action, if any, to take. Facial recognition technology is not automated decision making – police officers and trained operators will always make the decisions about whether and how to use any suggested matches. This means that the technology is not the deciding factor on any arrest.
In November we launched a 10 public consultation, ending on 12 February to help shape a new framework on biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, is he will publish the list of companies who have had (a) their license to sponsor skilled and temporary workers revoked and b) their license since reinstated in each of the last five years.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The register of licensed sponsors can be found on the Home Office website at: Register of licensed sponsors: workers - GOV.UK
This is a live document that shows which sponsors are currently fully active and the absence of a sponsor from the list signals that they are either suspended or revoked.
There are currently no plans to publish named lists of revoked or reinstated sponsors, although we do publish data on action taken against sponsors which can be found at: Migration transparency data - GOV.UK
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will update the Computer Misuse Act 1990 to give greater protection to cyber security professionals.
Answered by Dan Jarvis - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
The Government is conducting an ongoing review of the Computer Misuse Act.
As part of the review, we are reviewing how we can better support legitimate cybersecurity researchers so they can operate within a clear and supportive legal framework, while maintaining robust safeguards.
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the report by Kalaayan’s entitled 12 Years of Modern Slavery, published on 14 June 2024.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, including Kalaayan, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of its policies on the right to work for irregular migrants on levels of irregular migration.
Answered by Alex Norris - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office has developed new legislation to expand the scope of right to work checks to a wider range of businesses. This activity aims to prevent illegal working and to further reduce the opportunities for individuals in the UK illegally to gain employment. An impact assessment on this legislative change was published on 7 May 2025 and can be found here:
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what meetings she has had with expert stakeholders on reviewing the Overseas Domestic Worker visa.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of domestic workers who renew their visas each year.
Answered by Mike Tapp - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office keeps all policies and immigration routes under review. Ministers regularly meet with internal and external stakeholders, to discuss a wide range of issues, including the Overseas Domestic Worker route.
The Overseas Domestic Worker visa only grants permission for up to six months and cannot be extended. The Home Office publishes statistics relating to individuals who extend their stay here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables. The number of people extending their stay on the Domestic Worker in a Private Household visa is available from Table Exe_D01 of the Extension data tables (listed as “Overseas Domestic Worker”).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on how migrant survivors of trafficking in the National Referral Mechanism entered the UK.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This dataset only covers small boat arrivals and does not include other methods of entry. The published figures currently cover arrivals up to the end of September 2025.
The Home Office does not publish age-related statistics for individuals supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many working-age people are on the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract through the National Referral Mechanism.
Answered by Jess Phillips - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
This dataset only covers small boat arrivals and does not include other methods of entry. The published figures currently cover arrivals up to the end of September 2025.
The Home Office does not publish age-related statistics for individuals supported under the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC).
Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether future police force boundaries will be aligned with regional mayoral boundaries.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government has committed in its English Devolution White Paper to transfer policing functions to Mayors of Strategic Authorities wherever boundaries of the mayoral and policing areas align, by default, subject to Royal Assent to provisions in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.
This Government will abolish PCCs across England and Wales at the end of their term in 2028 and police governance functions will be transferred to mayors wherever possible, or to elected council leaders where it is not.
The Home Secretary has an ambitious police reform agenda, which will include measures to drive down waste and cut bureaucracy so that the police can focus on issues that matter to the public and cut crime in our communities. Further detail will be set out in the Police Reform White Paper, which is due to be published in early 2026.